Question: What are the most important qualities needed for spiritual maturity?

Sri Chinmoy: For spiritual maturity the most important qualities we all know: simplicity, sincerity, humility and purity. Simplicity in the physical consciousness, sincerity in the central heart, humility in the mind and purity from the sole of one’s foot to the crown of one’s head. If these qualities can be achieved, then one becomes without fail a perfect instrument. Simplicity, sincerity, humility and purity.

The entire body, the entire being, has to be simple, absolutely simple. When it is a matter of sincerity, the central heart particularly needs it. Humility is necessary inside the mind and in the head proper because the head does not want to bow down. Purity, like a river, has to flow from the top to the bottom, from the Crown Centre to the absolutely gross inconscience at the feet-level. From the starting point to the Golden Shore, from the beginning to the end, we have to feel purity. If we start with purity, then our success, our progress, everything becomes meaningful, soulful and fruitful. Right from the very beginning we have to start with purity, no matter where we start or when we start.